5:23 PM,
Jun. 17, 2013

Michael Malfitano helps his mom, Francine, post her ballot into an voting scanner during the Pearl River School Budget vote in 2012.

Written by

| A Journal News editorial

On Tuesday, five local school districts hold 2013-2014 budget re-votes. Second failures would be like shock therapy to all five districts, which would be barred from raising the current tax levy a single penny, per the constraints of the state's property tax cap law.

Because a district's costs aren't frozen, a tax levy freeze amounts to a mandatory spending cut. While that would be more than uncomfortable for wealthy districts like Scarsdale and Briarcliff Manor and painful for Elmsford, it would be devastating in East Ramapo and Mount Vernon. All five of these districts have a lot riding on ...